ok - ive posted this issue on a few forums, to no avail

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If you use a portal system, for example phpnuke or any cms.
And you yourself create a design for it in photoshop, put it all together with the portal system.

Can you say you designed the website? And just put creditation towards the portal system?

And how does copyright lay with this?

Sorry that any previous questions have not been answered. Most of us get turned off with a long list of links that seem to indicate you are just posting to place links and get customers to your various sites. It makes your questions look like spam.

Your question is a legal question that should be answered by your copyright lawyer.

As long as you are not using someone else's layout and your portal/applications is opensource or you have paid for it, I don't think anyone has a problem. If the graphics, source code, or domain name is used(ie. hxxp://myCoffeeCupSoftware.com), from what I understand, you are stealing their intellectual rights and can get in trouble ranging from a letter from an attourney to getting your site shut down.